Ordinarily, it wouldn't make headlines. But the fact that the town of Bridgewater is expanding the hours of operation for its library and senior center during a recession makes headlines for several reasons.
First of all, while many in the state Legislature are saying “taxes” is a forbidden word during this election year, Bridgewater residents voted for a $2.8 million Proposition 2 1/2 override last month.
Times are tough everywhere, with deep cuts to funding for schools, public safety and public services in this year's and next year's budgets.
Bridgewater Town officials responded to this year's budget shortfalls by holding school funding steady and cutting everything else. Bridgewater residents responded by voting in favor of an override 57 percent to 43 percent.
According to local political activist John Palmieri, Bridgewater residents wanted to preserve the quality of life in the town:
“I heard people who had historically voted against the override say, ‘I have to do this to save my town,’” Palmieri said. “I hadn’t heard that before, so it was a different sentiment and it really translated into the vote.”
The override vote followed nine straight years of budget cuts that saw city services slashed and library hours cut to 14 a week. The library is now open 26 hours a week. Town Manager Troy Clarkson says the town is now beginning the process of rebuilding its infrastructure.
“This is the beginning of building a better Bridgewater,” Clarkson said. “The community came together and saw the importance of moving forward to rebuild this community.”
Congrats. Libraries continue to play a vital role as community spaces and as the gateway to information resources. Librarians play a vital role in helping people navigate the, often bewildering, world of online information sources. Just providing a computer for word processing and printing can provide an important resource for resume writers.
doing the right thing for their community.
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p>Wish we could find more stories like this? Got one?
Bridgewater has a long history of starving their schools. A few years ago, students had classes packed in to 5 hours in a day, before they were bussed home to save on costs. Classes of 40+ from 6th grade up were common.
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p>The only reason this override passed is that parents and supporters packed a town meeting and voted to shift budget funds massively to the schools, which would have starved the council of aging, library, police, and fire departments. Then, and only then, did Bridgewaterans bestir themselves to vote for an override.
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p>More than 4 out of 10 people in Bridgewater were comfortable with no police protection for 1/3 of the day. With no Council of Aging. With no library.
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p>I’m glad the people of Bridgewater were pretty much forced to support their own community despite themselves, but please forgive me if I don’t celebrate.